Wisconsin leads nation downhill

If your political platform is public austerity and stripping union rights in the name of creating jobs, then you need better numbers than these:

In October, 14 states recorded statistically significant changes in employment, 13 of which were increases. The largest over-the-month statistically significant job gains occurred in Illinois (+30,000), California (+25,700), Virginia (+14,000), and Pennsylvania (+13,800). The only state with an over-the-month statistically significant decline in employment was Wisconsin (-9,700)

Emphasis mine. Over at the Madison Capital Times, John Nichols notes that under Governor Scott Walker, Wisconsin lost jobs in October, September, August and July. The state’s unemployment rate has risen from 7.3 percent to 7.7 percent, and Governor Walker is fending off a recall. Mr. Nichols writes:

There are a lot of reasons why Wisconsinites are lining up to sign recall petitions. Citizens are concerned about the governor’s assaults on basic rights and his undermining of the authority of elected schools boards and town boards. They are angry that he said one thing on the campaign trail in 2010 and did something else altogether as governor.

But the damage the governor’s policies have done to Wisconsin’s economy is no small factor in the popularity of the recall movement. When Illinois is creating jobs while our state is losing them, it is clear that Walker isn’t working for Wisconsin.